Arbitrary arrest & detention

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the disappearance of a human rights defender and Homeopathic doctor by profession from his private clinic by some plain clothed persons. They were accompanied by a police vehicle and the abductors were traveling in a black Toyota car. The lawyer of the disappeared […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the possible implications of President Benigno Aquino III’s order of December 10, 2010 to the Department of Justice (DoJ) instructing them to withdraw the charges against the Morong 43. The accused were 43 individuals, including doctors, nurses, grassroots community health workers. They were illegally arrested […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) appreciates the effort taken by the Home Minister of India in undertaking a visit to Manipur. Manipur is one of the states in India with a poor human rights record. During the past three years the number of encounter killings reported from the state has steadily increased, until the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes with reservations President Benigno Aquino III’s order to withdraw the charges against 43 health workers, collectively known as ‘Morong 43′, as reported today. We strongly believe, based on the documents and information that we have also obtained, that they should have not been arrested, detained, and forced to […]

About 50,000 members of the fisher folk community in the Negombo lagoon area have been protesting against a move by the government to initiate a tourism project which will require the reclamation of part of the lagoon to build a landing strip. The Negombo lagoon is rich with marine resources and has provided livelihoods for […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained a copy of an Investigation Report released by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) regional office III, exonerating soldiers who were accused of illegally arresting, detaining and torturing five indigenous people in Barangay (village) Dikapinisan, San Luis, Aurora province in December 2009. The AHRC questions the logic, merit and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that gross violations of labour laws, retrenchment and coercive methods against the workers were witnessed in Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited after its 26 percent shares were sold to a foreign based company. In the recent days, following a strike at Pakistan Telecommunication (PTCL) over […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the regional office of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Cotabato City, has recommended the release of “immediate financial assistance” to a torture victim whose complaint of torture they had investigated. The CHR investigators also affirmed the accounts of torture the victim […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a woman, who received a stay order from court over a dispute on ownership of her house, was picked up by policemen and their informers and taken to a private detention centre where she was gang raped for more than 50 days. The […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) illegally arrested a lawyer named Mr. Mantu Ghosh detained him in a number of fabricated charges for 72 days. Mr. Ghosh is a central committee member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and an advisor to the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that in recent days illegal arrests, abduction, killings and disappearances by the law enforcement agencies have increased in Balochistan province after the announcement by the Federal Interior minister that a lesson must be taught to Balochi insurgents by any means necessary. The Frontier Corps, a […]

(Hong Kong, October 29, 2010) Following the arrest of the student leader, Mr. Udul Premarathne, the Asian Human Rights Commission has today written to the Inspector General of Police of Sri Lanka, Mr. Mahinda Balasuriya urging him to ensure that there is no illegal use of police powers against Mr. Premarathne. As torture is endemic […]

Dear friends,  Police in Wamena, Papua killed Ismail Lokobal, fired near fatal shots at Amos Wetipo (which resulted in him slipping into a coma) and Frans Lokobal and arrested of at least 4 more persons. The shootings into the crowd and following arrests in Wamena, Papua followed the confiscation of an air cargo delivery to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police officers attached to the Ahangama Police Station have illegally arrested, detained and tortured a civilian. Later the police refused to provide necessary urgent medical treatment. After the victim sought justice by filling a fundamental rights application at the Human Rights Commission he […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man was illegally arrested by the police officers attached to the Ma Oya Police Post in the district of Polonnaruwa when he went to make a complaint. He was severely tortured and denied medical treatment. He only received medical treatment at the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is sharing with you the interview conducted with the mother of one of the five men we reported to have been tortured and continuously held in detention over questionable charges. The victim’s mother described in tears the visible torture injuries she had seen of her son and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man was illegally arrested, arbitrarily detained and severely tortured by officers of the Urubokka Police Station. He was later released without any charge but there are no official records of his arrest and detention. He was later admitted to the Teaching Hospital […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the bodies of a lawyer and his cousin from Balochistan province have been found. Both bodies bore marks of severe torture. They had been allegedly arrested by the Frontier Corp (FC), a paramilitary force of Pakistan. Another lawyer and four other persons were […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man who was severely tortured later succumbed to his injuries. He was arrested by police officers attached to the Kirindiwela Police Station who later fabricated the story that the deceased had fallen out of a police vehicle. However, several villagers witnessed the […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the local police in Thrissur district, Kerala state has illegally detained and tortured a student, for refusing to admit a charge of theft alleged against him. It is reported that the police officers detained the student in custody for more than 44 hours […]